A distortion of what is decent

Re “Tragedy and evil,” editorial, Aug. 16

Your editorial asks: “What kind of nihilistic monsters see a benefit to murdering and maiming hundreds of innocent men, women and children?” Change “hundreds” to “hundreds of thousands,” and the answer might be: “The same kind of nihilistic monsters who saw benefit in destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Your editorial is certainly correct: “No historic wrong, no ideological right, no religious calling could ever justify such crimes.” But perhaps such crimes begin when one group of people sees another group not as human beings but as “nihilistic monsters.” The millions of my fellow citizens who applauded the atomic bombing of Japan were fully human although, in my opinion, morally misguided. Why not extend the same perspective to Iraqis who kill? It’s in our self-interest because dehumanizing language will only perpetuate the cycle of violence.

Ira Chernus

Boulder, Colo.

A nice thought to recognize the sufferings of thousands of innocent Iraqis, but please don’t claim that we can no longer have faith in human decency because of their murders. Why not call a spade a spade and place the blame on the Muslim zealot terrorists who aren’t decent humans and the provocation of the United States in invading Iraq? They are human, with a distortion of what is decent that confounds the mind.

Stan Greenfield

Woodland Hills